Cordillera Huayhuash – Day 6 – Cutatambo to Huatiaq

Cordillera Huayhuash – Day 6 – Cutatambo to Huatiaq

Day 5 Cutatambo to Huatiaq

Today was a totally different day.

The trail took us on a brisk walk all the way down to 11,000ft – oxygen! The trail traveled away from the high peaks and followed a raging river steep down into a narrow valley. The water was crystal clear with multicolored river rocks beneath. There were waterfalls everywhere and tropical trees. At the end, the valley opened up to beautiful man made rock walls and narrow walled walkways.

Notice the squares up on the hillside? Those are rock walls and mud huts. The bridge in this photo is also made of mud, wood and rocks!

After about 7 miles, we arrived in a tiny village called Huayllapa. We were excited to experience the village and possibly eat breakfast. Let’s be real, we were hyper-focused on the breakfast possibilities! Walking into the village, we passed a woman hunched over doing laundry in the river with her baby lambs grazing around her. All the homes had tin roofs which shined in the sunlight. The dirt trail eventually widened and became the neighborhood streets. It was very quiet and nothing appeared to be open. We sat on a bench outside the closed general store and watched the locals work and move through the village. We tried to interpret the town gossip as three women sure had a lot to say about “Manuel.”

The rock walls were impressive. Instead of fencing, they built rock walls to hold their livestock, protect their homes and some lined the trail guiding you into town.

We paid a protection fee here shortly after passing through these village gates.

After about a half hour we decided to head out to start the big climb back into the mountains. We were a little disappointed we missed out on breakfast, but were thankful we got to experience the village and pet baby lambs on the way out.

It was hard not to pack a stray dog or one of these precious little lambs home with me. We interacted with so many animals on this trip!

From Huayllapa, it was a steep 3,000ft walk back into the mountains. It was a tough, but we were in awe of the tropical scenery. Waterfalls cascaded down beside the trail. There were little oasis’ of trees – it felt like a jungle! Halfway up, clouds began to form and rain started to fall. We were so warm from climbing, we decided to keep going and not stop to put on our rain jackets. We were soaked by the rain, but it cooled us as we continued the steep stretch. After about 45 minutes, the rain let up and the sun came out. Our clothes were dry within 20 minutes by the strong sun.

We set up camp just in time for sunset. From our tent, we had two beautiful views. One to our left of the valley with colorful shadows overlapping one another…And to our right – the pink and purple glaciers!

After dinner, a gentlemen herding his sheep stopped by our tent. A little anxious, we made small talk with him as best we could. The conversation turned and he asked us bluntly if we had food, or more specifically, if we had chocolate. It got awkward. We apologized and told him we did not have any chocolate to give. He said goodnight politely and wandered back to herding his sheep.

Hi, I’m Christina!

Welcome to my blog! I'm a thru hiker, trail runner and creator of Thru Designs. I share my adventures to energize and encourage others to pursue the outdoors. Adventure is an attitude! ❀ Wander with me.